I know it’s cheaper to settle than to take a case to court, which is why cash-strapped people don’t take cases to court. If there isn’t a 100% chance of winning, then they are liable for court costs. The vast majority never make it to court because the folks who filed the suit don’t want to take the chance…

The other thing is that both of your remarks are predicated on the assumption that the cops are indeed the “good guys” and did nothing wrong…. which is garbage. It is perfectly possible for a cop to be bad and be guilty as sin. Yes, yes, presumption of innocence and all that. I know. But read on…

However, since the case gets settled, the bad cop keeps getting recycled back into the mix… “help us find the bad cops”? You’re kidding, right?

Human Rights Watch notes that taxpayers actually pay three times for officers who repeatedly commit abuses: “once to cover their salaries while they commit abuses; next to pay settlements or civil jury awards against officers; and a third time through payments into police ‘defense’ funds provided by the cities.”

Free?, “insurance companies” don’t pay out settlements. The taxpaying citizen does. The municipality taxes us and papers us with reams – oceans – of tickets to generate funds with which they use to pay the insurance premiums. So what if the insurance company pays off the poor bastard who got the wrong end of a cop? Just raise taxes a notch or send out your enforcer goons to write more tickets, generate more income, milk you like the cash cow you are…

Plus, there’s these wonderful Law Enforcement Bill of Rights that various states have adopted – written by police unions. Cop does something egregious, and you cannot hold them to the same standards as citizens are. They’re special, don’tcha see? Their badges grant special dispensation. They’re better than us, poor proles that we are…

They get a 10-day “cooling down” period, are questioned by only one or two of their buddy officers, plenty of food and drinks and bathroom breaks… no abusive behavior or intense questioning allowed.

From the article:

Not only are officers given a 10-day “cooling-off period” during which they cannot be forced to make any statements about the incident, but when they are questioned, it must be “for a reasonable length of time, at a reasonable hour, by only one or two investigators (who must be fellow policemen), and with plenty of breaks for food and water.”

– If a department decides to pursue a complaint against an officer, the department must notify the officer and his union.

– The officer must be informed of the complainants, and their testimony against him, before he is questioned.

– During questioning, investigators may not harass, threaten, or promise rewards to the officer, as interrogators not infrequently do to civilian suspects.

– Bathroom breaks are assured during questioning.

– In Maryland, the officer may appeal his case to a “hearing board,” whose decision is binding, before a final decision has been made by his superiors about his discipline. The hearing board consists of three of the suspected offender’s fellow officers.

– In some jurisdictions, the officer may not be disciplined if more than a certain number of days (often 100) have passed since his alleged misconduct, which limits the time for investigation.

– Even if the officer is suspended, the department must continue to pay salary and benefits, as well as the cost of the officer’s attorney.

But, if a citizen is arrested on suspicion of the exact same thing, what do the cops do?

Yeah…. you are subjected to all the behavior and abuse their own Unions forbid being done to them. Including lying to your face, failing to show you evidence, showing you false evidence (you know it happens Whirl, don’t even go there), etc…

And I’m tired of seeing people twist themselves into all sorts of contortions trying to justify this garbage by saying “Well, the vast majority of cops are good cops”.

Oh? And you know this exactly how? You tell yourself that because the alternative is too monstrous to think about? If the vast majority of cops are good cops, then why all the lawsuits? They can’t possibly all be frivolous. And if that is true, then what percentage have merit? Does that thought bother you? It should. If it doesn’t, then you’re either a sociopath, a statist thug or you’re a part of the crime syndicate…

What syndicate?

Police, district attorneys, the courts, prison systems… it’s the biggest crime syndicate on the planet.

I’d love to see someone apply RICO statutes to the behavior of cops and their higher ups… I’m betting a good living can be made – a doctorate earned and a career made – just studying that one subject.